Making Room

Yesterday was a rare treat. The Husband and I had the whole day (ok until 3pm) together.  He took the day off so that we could attack to new plan/ house reorganization project. I am thinking this plan needs an official name, but I digress. We dropped the twinnies off at daycare and went after our list.  We went to Storables and designed a custom closet project for the nursery/mom's closet. Sean was SO excited, I had to laugh. He has been talking about organizing the closets since we bought this place 3 years ago and wanted to spruce the place up a bit. Well now it appears that nobody will be buying our condo so we have no choice, but to accept that we will be a family of 5 here. Hopefully not for long, but the fact remains. We have about 800 sq feet to work with and it terrifies me.  I can cry about it (and I do), but we need to start making some plans to make things as functional as possible.  In addition to revamping the closet, we are getting rid of our "dining room" table  to make more space for play in the living area. The table is currently being used for the computer desk anyway and I can't remember the last time we had dinner on it.  In it's place we will add some high shelving with baskets for toys and whatnot.  I am looking at this:

with some large baskets like these  :

We'd also like to add a plush rug and some cute baby seating like this:

Hopefully this will all come together in a cozy/functional way for all of us!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

This is my first Not Me Monday! I definitely did NOT take my kids to daycare today so that my husband and I could shop fir the new baby. I did NOT enjoy walking at a leisurely pace and take my sweet time eating lunch before  going to pick them up.  Like a good mother I did take them to the park to play, but certainly did NOT eat half of their snack.  I applied sunscreen and watched the other kids play, while thoughts of how much cuter my twins are did NOT run through my head. That would be rude. When we got home I did NOT realize that the twins haven't had a bath in 4 days and was NOT horrified when I saw how much yellow gunk was in their ears.  After bath time, we definitely did NOT play the baby sign language dvd twice so that the twins would zone out and we could relax and make dinner. All in all, a wonderful day!

Not So Fast!

And now we have our first bloody lip. That didn't take long! Like a true little boy, after a cuddle from mom he was giggling and back at it. 

We Have a Walker!

My Little Bear took his first steps last night! He took four steps from Daddy to me! We screamed and cheered (even Gracie!) Where did the time and my baby boy go? I am so proud of you Tater!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I could die, these aprons are SO cute!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Way Back When-esday

While I enjoy a breakfast of champions (gatorade and snickers bar) and the babies are settling down  for a nap, I thought of WAY back-before the babies were here and before I had any inkling I would some day be a MoM with 3 under two!

Date: August 14th, 2004

Event: Our wedding!

We look like such a bright, shiny, well rested couple, don't we? ;)

Does NOT Make My Monday

I am home alone. Sick and miserable.  I have no idea what happened- a slight stomach ache after my blizzard last night and I went to bed. I am up and down all night trying not to get sick. By 6 am I wished I would just to get it over with! TMI sorry. Anyway, I was in tears when the house was waking up so we decided to take the babies to daycare today so I could sleep. I did, which was nice, but I am still struggling with this stomach pain/burning/nausea.  I miss the twins and  feel guilty for taking them to daycare so I can lay on the couch! I am going to give soup a try and go get when they will be waking up from afternoon nap. I am hoping this bug will just pass and leave the rest of the family alone!

Happy Father's Day!

What makes my DH a great Father?

Here I sit on our 2nd Father's day and both DH and the twinnies are happily napping. I took a break from cleaning for the in-laws arrival to participate in Multiple and More's blog carnival!

My DH is an amazing man. I knew he would be an amazing husband and friend to me through our lives, but even more endearing was that I knew he would make an amazing father someday. We met in high school and even then, I could see the makings of the man he would become and he talked of the father he'd long to be. We dreamt of the family we would start together someday. We married in 2004 and thus began our 3 year battle with infertility. Its no joke and it brought us so many sleepless nights and teary eyed talks as we felt our dream slip away. He was the strength and optimism I needed and I was that for him when occasionally he buckled. One thing was clear and that I will always be able to tell our children: Your Daddy loved you and wanted you SOOO much. The blessing of infertility is how it puts life into perspective and we try never to take for granted how blessed we are to get to parent our twins and (coming soon) another little boy. Sean does a wonderful service to our children by loving me in spite of mood swings, hormones, and occasional bouts of just being high maintenance! My little girl will know the type of man she should look for and our sons will have the best role model I could dream up.

On a daily basis Sean cleans, cooks, wrestles, cuddles, kisses, induces fits of giggles, bathes, wipes away tears and disciplines with me. Our kids know their daddy loves them and he is a heavy favorite in our house! How blessed are we all that God gave us this man to be their daddy! 10 years ago we didn't know quite what we were in for and I'm sure life will continue to hand us things we struggle with, but the truth and promise I saw then is being fulfilled before my eyes now and I can't tell you how lucky I feel.

Pot and Kettle

I was changing Gracie's stinky poop diaper on the floor and Tater is sitting next to me. He takes one look/whiff and barfs on himself. LOL. I feel ya buddy. I've been there too. 

A New Attitude

I'm working on one. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to worry about.  My husband would prefer I jump on the bandwagon with and maintain optimism. I can't lie, it's a daily struggle for me. I worry and I get disappointed with the way things seem to be going. This is partly why he is the head and I am the heart in our family. ANYWAYS, I am sensing a God change in my heart to look at things from a wider perspective and find some joy in my days. So I am really trying to embrace that.  Hopefully, it will stick.

This morning was so nice, it was actual "me time" not just when I am running errands alone, but doing things I WANT to do!  I went to the mall and with gift cards got some perfume, lipstick and a few new maternity shirts! Yippee! It was so nice to meander around the mall again.  I stopped at a few baby stores of course, but restrained myself.  I also had a job interview today. Not sure if it's for me-it's a job share teaching daily in the afternoons. I'd only get to teach math and science and my passion is in reading and writing. Not sure if it would work for my schedule or the kiddos either. God kind of plopped the opportunity in my lap though, so I am thinking about it. They might not offer it to me anyway!

For Father's day I had some pics of Sean and the babies blown up on canvas, but I don't think they will get here on time (certainly NOT because I didn't order them until Monday). So, on a rec from my mom I got him "How to Photograph Your Baby" By Nick Kelsh.  It is supposed to be a great way for us less camera savvy folks to still take amazing pics.  I am excited to check it out and experiment. We have been talking about maybe getting a fancy new camera, but not much point if we don't know what we're doing.  I'll let you know how it turns out!

I got a siggy!

Way-Back Wednesday!

I am trying this for the first time, I'm not great at this blogging thing! My Way-Back memory is in honor this upcoming Father's Day!  Sean loves to go to Greenlake with the twins and this was one f the first times we ever went (anywhere really) when they were about 1 month old. There was a breeze so they just laid there like baby burritos at the park! I remember us talking about "someday..." when they would actually play the park! We are going this weekend for Father's Day and I'm sure there will be playing and ice cream fun had by all. What a difference a year makes!

Summer Break

Summer break has started!  It's kind of a slower transition than I thought with packing up my classroom and finishing report cards, but I should be done with everything tomorrow.  I also got a job interview at another local private school for Thursday! I am excited and kind of sad because I don't want to admit that I am leaving my old job for good.

In twinnie news, they are seeming more and more like toddlers everyday. Tate is seconds away from walking and is just my wild man.  He gets into everything (had to hide our shoes because he likes to lick the bottoms-EWWWWW)! Gracie is trying to move now, but still not having much luck. She rolls back and forth, but can't seem to get the hang of crawling or pulling herself up.  Once I've got her standing up she is happy until she wants to sit down.  Then she shakes her legs and cries because she is too scared to let herself drop down.  This girl is really trying our patience lately with lots of whining and crying. I don't see any molars coming in, and really have no hints that it's an ear infection (I'll feel so bad if it is!), it just seems like she is being whiny/high maintenance.  It was just a couple of weeks ago I was saying that about Tate though. Maybe it's a stage? My babies are both very clingy still around strangers and cry if we leave the room for a second. None of our other friends' kids do this (all the same age). I am starting to feel like we are doing something wrong. Are we too attentive?  My aunt says I need to leave them on the floor more to themselves and do more of my own thing around the house so they won't rely on me to sit right there when they play. I don't know... thoughts? 

A fun thing is that they started to sign this week! We had pretty much given up on it since we weren't very consistent, but after a reintroduction to a baby signs video Tate starting signing Daddy and Gracie started signing milk! At least we got their two favorite things down ;)

Also, Tater has taken to hugging and kissing Grace again. THAT is the sweetest thing ever. Trying to catch it on camera is nearly impossible, but warms my heart!

Fever

Last day of school today and it was bitter sweet. I haven't told any of my parents or kids that I'm not coming back next year (due to being laid off).  I teared up a few times, but I think I did pretty well considering. I was just starting to attach all the packing I need to do when daycare called that my Gracie girl had a 102.3 fever! I went right over and the poor thing was stripped to her diaper and they were putting cold washcloths on her-she had gotten up to 103! I called the dr. and they said to wait it out with some tylenol until the morning so that is the plan. I hate my baby girl looking so sad and tired though. :( She had no other symptoms.  Right now they are finally falling asleep. Nap is usually at 2, but everything was thrown off, I think they are over tired now, which is what is taking them so long to actually fall asleep. I'm hoping they sleep till daddy gets home! Then I can cuddle my girl while he plays with the wild man. 

Uncertainties

It seems we are entering into a season of uncertainties. I got laid off and don't when when/ if I will get a job teaching in the Fall. My aunt has been diagnosed with breast cancer and after her double mastectomy, they have found it in her lymphnodes (sic) as well.  Our condo is much too small to hold our expanding clan, but it still sit on the market.  I am not great in these circumstances. As a matter of fact, I stink at them.  I get depressed, I grieve, I cry, I complain. The truth is though that they haven't yet been decided. I may get my job back or another opportunity elsewhere.  My aunt may have the chemo and heal beautifully.  Our home might sell any day! I need to give the God the opportunity to work before I cast blame and wallow in disappointment. This is where I am this week. It feels like time is running out, but in fact, He may be right on time.

!st Birthday Party!

weekend

I finally got he pics from the twins' birthday! I love most of them, but was sad that I didn't like any with me in them.  I think it's the pregnancy fat face that's got me down. 

This weekend was pretty rough given I was laid off Friday afternoon. I knew it was a possibility, but I love my school and job, so it was hard to accept. I am grieving more than I thought I would. With the economy down, private schools are losing kids and no kids = no teachers. I am relatively new as well, so I was not TOO surprised.  Still, I'm sad. I am praying that God will work a miracle and find me a position there again soon.  I did get a tip on a job at another Christian school from someone at church so I am checking into that. 

This weekend we went to our hometown (Puyallup) and spent time with our families. My great- grandma (the twins' great-great-grandma!) turned 90 so we had a big party. They were doing well until  we got to the party when they were tired and just wanted to be held by Sean or me.  I love them to pieces, but this can be so frustrating! Just when you think "ooh lots of people holding the babies! I can eat my own plate and have free arms for a little while!" They turn it all around on you.  We barely got to eat (though we fed them everything on our plates!) and I felt more tired afterwards. I am getting a little concerned about this clingy stage as the new baby is on his way (I am 31 weeks).  How is this all going to work?? I am hoping we can move through this phase quickly.